Eric Desjardins was selected 38th overall in the 1987 NHL Entry Draft by the Montreal Canadiens after playing two seasons with the Granby Bisons of the QMJHL. As an 18-year-old in 1987, he played in 62 games, scoring 18 goals and 49 assists. Many of his assists came on goals by junior teammate and future NHLer Pierre Turgeon.

One year later, he made his NHL debut against the Minnesota North Stars. He played 36 games that season on the Canadiens blueline as the team won the Adams Division season title. In the playoffs, Desjardins played 14 games en route to winning the Prince of Wales Trophy in the Wales Conference finals before losing to the Flames in the Stanley Cup finals.

By the 1991-92, Desjardins was the Canadiens' top offensive defenseman, scoring 38 points. That year, he played in his first mid-season NHL All-Star Game.

The 1992-93 season still stands out in the mind of Eric Desjardins as the Canadiens surprised most hockey pundits by winning another Stanley Cup, this time a five-game finals victory over the Los Angeles Kings. Desjardins was a major offensive contributor to the championship, scoring 14 points in 20 games. Individually, game five of that series stands out as the best memory of his career as he scored all three Montreal goals in a 3-2 overtime win.

In the shortened 1994-95 season, Desjardins was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers and went on to win the Flyers' Barry Ashbee Trophy as the team's most outstanding defenceman.

The 1996-97 playoffs saw Desjardins play in his second Stanley Cup final, but this time he and the Flyers would come out as the runners-up, being swept in four-straignt games by the Detroit Red Wings. In 1998 Desjardins was one of seven defenceman chosen to wear Canada's colors at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.

After playing his 1,000th NHL game in 2002-03, Desjardins missed the better part of the following season due to injury. He returned to the Flyer line-up in 2005-06 but managed to only skate in 45 games.

Desjardins officially announced retirement on August 10, 2006 after 1143 NHL games.

Aside from his Olympic experience, Desjardins represented his country at the World Junior Championships (1988-1989), the Canada Cup (1991) and the World Cup of Hockey (1996).

REGULAR SEASON

PLAYOFFS

Season

Club

League

GP

G

A

TP

PIM

+/-

GP

G

A

TP

PIM

1985-86

Laval-Laurentides

QAAA

42

6

30

36

54

8

2

10

12

14

1986-87

Granby Bisons

QMJHL

66

14

24

38

75

8

3

2

5

10

1987-88

Granby Bisons

QMJHL

62

18

49

67

138

5

0

3

3

10

1987-88

Canada

WJC-A

7

0

0

0

6

1987-88

Sherbrooke Canadiens

AHL

3

0

0

0

6

4

0

2

2

2

1988-89

Montreal Canadiens

NHL

36

2

12

14

26

+9

14

1

1

2

6

1988-89

Canada

WJC-A

7

1

4

5

6

1989-90

Montreal Canadiens

NHL

55

3

13

16

51

+1

6

0

0

0

10

1990-91

Montreal Canadiens

Fr-Tour

2

0

0

0

0

1990-91

Montreal Canadiens

NHL

62

7

18

25

27

+7

13

1

4

5

8

1991-92

Canada

Can-Cup

8

1

2

3

6

1991-92

Montreal Canadiens

NHL

77

6

32

38

50

+17

11

3

3

6

4

1992-93

Montreal Canadiens

NHL

82

13

32

45

98

+20

20

4

10

14

23

1993-94

Montreal Canadiens

NHL

84

12

23

35

97

-1

7

0

2

2

4

1994-95

Montreal Canadiens

NHL

9

0

6

6

2

+2

1994-95

Philadelphia Flyers

NHL

34

5

18

23

12

+10

15

4

4

8

10

1995-96

Philadelphia Flyers

NHL

80

7

40

47

45

+19

12

0

6

6

2

1996-97

Canada

W-Cup

8

1

2

3

4

1996-97

Philadelphia Flyers

NHL

82

12

34

46

50

+25

19

2

8

10

12

1997-98

Philadelphia Flyers

NHL

77

6

27

33

36

+11

5

0

1

1

0

1997-98

Canada

Olympics

6

0

0

0

2

1998-99

Philadelphia Flyers

NHL

68

15

36

51

38

+18

6

2

2

4

4

1999-00

Philadelphia Flyers

NHL

81

14

41

55

32

+20

18

2

10

12

2

2000-01

Philadelphia Flyers

NHL

79

15

33

48

50

-3

6

1

1

2

0

2001-02

Philadelphia Flyers

NHL

65

6

19

25

24

-1

5

0

1

1

2

2002-03

Philadelphia Flyers

NHL

79

8

24

32

35

+30

5

2

1

3

0

2003-04

Philadelphia Flyers

NHL

48

1

11

12

28

+11

2004-05

2005-06

Philadelphia Flyers

NHL

45

4

20

24

56

+3

6

1

3

4

6

NHL Totals

1143

136

439

575

757

168

23

57

80

93

QMJHL Second All-Star Team (1987) QMJHL First All-Star Team (1988) NHL Second All-Star Team (1999, 2000)
Played in NHL All-Star Game (1992, 1996, 2000)

Traded to Philadelphia by Montreal with Gilbert Dionne and John LeClair for Mark Recchi and Philadelphia's 3rd round pick (Martin Hohenberger) in 1995 NHL Draft, February 9, 1995. Officially announced his retirement, August 10, 2006.